Day: October 25, 2018

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Saturday, 27 October 2018 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Luke 13 : 1-9

At that time, one day, some people told Jesus what had occurred in the Temple : Pilate had had Galileans killed, and their blood mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. Jesus asked them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered this? No, I tell you. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish, as they did.”

“And those eighteen persons in Siloah, who were crushed when the tower fell, do you think they were more guilty than all the others in Jerusalem? I tell you : no. But unless you change your ways, you will perish as they did.” And Jesus continued, “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he came looking for fruit on it, but found none. Then he said to the gardener, ‘Look here, for three years now I have been looking for figs on this tree, and I have found none. Cut it down, why should it continue to deplete the soil?’”

“The gardener replied, ‘Leave it one more year, so that I may dig around it and add some fertiliser; perhaps it will bear fruit from now on. But if it does not, you can cut it down.’”

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Saturday, 27 October 2018 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Psalm 121 : 1-2, 3-4a, 4b-5

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” And now we have set foot within your gates, o Jerusalem!

Jerusalem, just like a city, where everything falls into place! There the tribes go up.

The tribes of the Lord, the assembly of Israel, to give thanks to the Lord’s Name. There stand the courts of justice, the offices of the house of David.

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Saturday, 27 October 2018 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Ephesians 4 : 7-16

But to each of us, divine grace is given, according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore, it is said : When He ascended to the heights, He brought captives and gave His gifts to people. He ascended, what does it mean, but, that He had also descended to the lower parts of the world? He, Himself, Who went down, then ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things.

As for His gifts, to some, He gave to be Apostles; to others, prophets, or even evangelists; or pastors and teachers. So, He prepared those who belong to Him, for the ministry, in order to build up the Body of Christ, until we are all united, in the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Thus, we shall become the perfect Man, upon reaching maturity, and sharing the fullness of Christ.

Then, no longer shall we be like children, tossed about by any wave, or wind or doctrine; and deceived by the cunning of people, who drag them along into error. Rather, speaking the truth, in love, we shall grow in every way, toward Him, Who is the Head, Christ. From Him, comes the growth of the whole body, to which a network of joints give order and cohesion, taking into account, and making use of, the function of each one. So, the body builds itself, in love.

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Friday, 26 October 2018 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture telling us first of all from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city of Ephesus, of what is expected from all of us as Christians, in how we live our lives and in our communities. The Christians of that time were urged by St. Paul to look beyond their differences, and work together to find unity in action and in spirit.

In today’s Gospel we heard of the Lord Jesus speaking to us about the superficiality and hypocrisy of the people of God, who knew of the signs of nature and the times, and yet, they did not or fail to know the signs of God. This has to be understood in the context of the history and the dynamics of the community at that time, in which people were often divided, as the people of Ephesus were, along the lines of race, religious and cultural divide, and the differences in outlook and background.

Therefore, at that time, the society was actually very divided against each other and even often, within one’s own racial, religious and cultural groups, where there were also often disagreements, disunity and conflict. All of these were ultimately caused by our own human desires and selfishness, the allures of power, of glory, and of worldly satisfactions and pursuits of vanity, which clashed along each other’s, and therefore, resulting in the disagreements and disunity.

This comment by both St. Paul and the Lord Jesus came at a time when the people often acted very selfishly towards each other, be judgmental on each other, and without hesitation, attacking and striking at their fellow men without any consideration, and less so love or understanding of each other’s actions. This is what, to St. Paul, and to the Lord Jesus, actions that were based on worldly expectations and standards, and which are contrary to our Christian way of life.

This is why through what the Lord Jesus and St. Paul shared with us in today’s Scripture passages, on the need for all of us to embrace true Christian way of life and enact this in our own living. In how we live our lives, in how we act and interact with each other, and in all of our work in the community, we must embody and show true spirit of Christianity, and this means that we need to be filled with love, compassion, concern and care for our fellow men.

We should not act on one another with prejudice, or with hatred or jealousy, or with the intention to hurt or harm the other person. As Christians, we must act with love, to show concern on those who are troubled and injured, sick or in pain, and to learn to forgive, despite the faults that we have done upon the other. It is in the world’s way and in our human nature for us to hate, and to keep grudges against those who have hurt us. But as Christians, we are challenged to overcome this.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that we reflect on this, and think of ways that we can do, so that gradually, we may come to attune ourselves more closely to the way of the Lord. Let us all turn ourselves, our heart, our mind, our body and our whole being, towards the Lord, and seek to devote ourselves, day after day, for the greater glory of God, from now on. May God bless us in this endeavour, and May He continue to be with us and be our Guide. Amen.

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Friday, 26 October 2018 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 12 : 54-59

At that time, Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it happens. And when the wind blows from the south, you say, ‘It will be hot’; and so it is. You superficial people! You understand the signs of the earth and the sky, but you do not understand the present times.”

“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is fit? When you go with your accuser before the court, try to settle the case on the way, lest he drag you before the judge, and the judge deliver you to the jailer, and the jail throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

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Friday, 26 October 2018 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 23 : 1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

The earth and its fullness belong to YHVH, the world and all that dwell in it. He has founded it upon the ocean and set it firmly upon the waters.

Who will ascend the mountain of YHVH? Who will stand in His holy place? Those with clean hands and pure heart, who desire not what is vain.

They will receive blessings from YHVH, a reward from God, their Saviour. Such are the people who seek Him, who seek the face of Jacob’s God.

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Friday, 26 October 2018 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ephesians 4 : 1-6

Therefore, I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you, to live the vocation you have received. Be humble, kind, patient and bear with one another in love. Make every effort to keep among you, the unity of spirit, through bonds of peace. Let there be one body, and one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by God. One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God, the Father of all, Who is above all, and works through all, and is in all.

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Thursday, 25 October 2018 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture speaking to us first about the presence of God in our lives, as according to the words of St. Paul the Apostle, in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus. In that Epistle, we heard of the Lord, Who is the source of all power, love, wisdom, glory, that surpasses any human intellect, wisdom, or power. And it is from Him alone that all these things will come towards us, His beloved people.

This is linked to what we heard in our Gospel passage today, even though it may not be immediately evident right at the beginning. In that Gospel passage, we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples, using words that would have certainly made them unsettled, as the Lord used words that were seemingly atypical of what He has often taught and preached before the people of God.

Usually the Lord would speak of peace, love, harmony, and the forgiveness of sins and faults, and through all the teachings and the deeds He had performed, it seems quite clear that the Lord Jesus was One Who would bring about a time of peace, love and harmony, the idealistic utopia, which corresponds to what the Jewish people at the time thought, that the Messiah would bring about such an utopian reality.

However, through what He spoke of to the people in today’s passage, the Lord Jesus revealed the truth and the reality of what being His disciples and followers would mean, that tough and difficult times would be theirs to bear, and that His coming into the world, far from bringing about an utopian society and state, would actually bring about plenty of divisions, sufferings, and even persecutions and deaths.

And it is important for us all to realise that none of these were actually because of the Lord’s doing. The divisions, pains, troubles, sufferings and all the other unpleasantness and difficulties came about because of man’s opposition to God’s will, their refusal to allow God to enter into their hearts and their lives, and also, their selfishness and desire to gain more things for themselves, for their benefit. And this is directly contrary to what the Lord had taught us, the essence of what Christianity is all about.

It is these clashes in mindset and the failure of men in resisting the allure of worldly pleasures and greed that caused the divisions and troubles for all those who believe in God. The clashes and persecutions that occurred throughout the history of the Church, particularly those during its earliest days were examples of these, which the Lord foretold to His disciples. Following the Lord would often put one at odds against the societal norms and customs at that time.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how then, the early Christians persisted against such terrible persecutions, troubles and challenges? It was exactly as what St. Paul wrote as part of our first reading passage today, that they placed their trust in God, from Whom they received strength, power, wisdom and courage. They trusted that God would protect them, and even though they might suffer, but they knew that their ultimate reward, for their faith, is the eternal glory with God in heaven.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how about us? Even in our world today there are plenty of opposition that are rising up against us and the Church. There are increasingly more and more threats and problems that are facing us. And unless we put our trust in God, it is very easy for us to lose our way and fall into the temptations and fall therefore into the trap of sin. And surely, if we look carefully at the situation of the world around us, in the present day, we can recognise ever more increasing sources of these distractions, temptations and pressures against us.

Are we then able to put our trust in God just as our predecessors had done before? We are called to do so, and spend our effort in getting closer to Him. There will be occasions when we would be tempted to give up, because of all the pressures and temptations piled up against us. But we should not let that be obstacles in our way towards the Lord. Instead, we should continue to strive and to try to be better in how we live our faith, in wanting to be closer to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore pray, that each and every one of us will be able to give our very best in living our lives in faith. Let us all also strive, day after day, to seek the Lord in all things, and to be ever better Christians from now on, sharing the love of God with one another, now and forevermore. Amen.